Szemraj, Roger R

Bill has long been recognized as one of the top civil defense trial attorneys in South Carolina.  Among his current accolades is his selection statewide to Best Attorneys in South Carolina and locally to Top Lawyers in Columbia.  Over the course of several decades, he has tried literally hundreds of cases to a verdict in such diverse fields as medical/professional malpractice, product liability, insurance coverage/bad faith, trucking and transportation torts, premises liability, contract disputes, and patent infringement and other intellectual property disputes.  He is highly coveted as a speaker and lecturer on a myriad of topics related to civil trial advocacy.

Bill began his career as a Navy JAG officer and became a senior partner and top trial attorney for a large national firm, serving on its management committee and training many current and well known trial attorneys before becoming a founding partner of SWB.

Bill is state representative for USLAW network and has served on the Board of Directors of the South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys Association and the American Law Firm Association (ALFA).  He was a charter member of the Transportation and Trucking Practice Group and on the steering committee of the Product Liability Practice Group for ALFA.  He is also a member of the Transportation Industry Defense Association (TIDA), the Defense Research Institute (DRI), the Transportation Lawyers Association, the Association of Transportation Practitioners, and the American Arbitration Association.  He has been a regular speaker at various bar association and national legal education seminars.  He has served on the Board of Directors of the South Carolina Defense Trial Attorneys Association and as a member of The American Trucking Association, and the American Intellectual Property Lawyers Association (AIPLA).  He is national counsel in South Carolina for some well known manufacturers for whom he exclusively handles product liability and business/contract matters.

Bill is married to the former Nica Blankenship of Roanoke, Virginia, and they have two children. His favorite leisure activity is golf. He is an elder and Sunday School teacher at First Presbyterian Church, Columbia, and is Chairman of the Board of International Friendship Ministries, an outreach to international students in American colleges.  He was educated at the Hotchkiss School, Colgate University (B.A.), and the University of South Carolina School of Law (Juris Doctor). He is qualified to practice in all state and federal courts as well as the United States Supreme Court.